Backing over kids too common

South Bend incident was sixth in U.S. in three days.

South Bend incident was sixth in U.S. in three days.

April 19, 2007|TOM MOOR Tribune Staff Writer

It may be the worst of all stories. A parent accidentally runs over and kills his or her child in the driveway. These kind of tragic events have happened recently in Florida, Iowa and Utah. And South Bend. A 3-year-old girl was killed Monday when her mother apparently hit her while she was backing out of a driveway. Jenee Farrell died at Memorial Hospital shortly after the collision that occurred just after 7 p.m. in the 51800 block of Indiana 933. The girl's mother, Rebecca McQueen, and the rest of her family are not alone in the heartbreak they may be feeling, a national expert said. So how can these tragedies be avoided? Janette E. Fennell, president and founder of Kids and Cars, said these accidents occur far too often nationwide. She said Monday's incident was the sixth time in three days in the United States that a young child was killed when a car backed into them. In most cases, a parent or family member was responsible. "It's the worst thing, the death of a child," Fennell said. "And besides that, they lost their lives oftentimes when a parent was behind the wheel. It can break apart families and communities. "I'm sure they feel very alone right now and feel they might be the only family this has ever happened too," she added. "They would be shocked to know how often it's happening." The goal of Kids and Cars is to get federal regulation passed in hopes of limiting the number of children injured and killed in motor vehicle-related incidents. The group is a national nonprofit organization committed to pursuing safety for children in and around motor vehicles. The most common nontraffic-related fatality type involving children 15 and younger from 2002 to 2006 was backover accidents, which made up 49.5 percent of them. The number of those fatalities rose by 336 from the previous five years. At least 50 children are backed over every week nationwide. An average of two of them die. In more than 70 percent of these incidents, a parent or relative was behind the wheel, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "That's certainly a spike; it's awful," Fennell said. "We just can't let this happen." She says the organization has lobbied for legislation that would require a rear visibility standard to be set for all vehicles. Such legislation, including House Resolution 1216, was introduced in February and is pending in Congress, she said. On the Kids and Cars Web site, a picture shows a group of 62 small children sitting behind a large sport utility vehicle. The driver cannot see any of them. Some SUV blind spots are more than 60 feet, Fennell said. "We want something that would say it's unacceptable to have a blind zone bigger than 10 feet, whether it be bigger mirrors, larger back windows, sensors or cameras," she said. Fennell said family vehicles have grown bigger in recent years. McQueen was driving a Chevrolet Suburban when she ran over her daughter. More than 60 percent of the backup accidents involved a larger vehicle, Fennell said. In the meantime, Fennell urges parents to be safe driving around children. "Always walk all the way around the vehicle and make sure your kids are being properly supervised," she said.Staff writer Tom Moor: tmoor@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6187